5 Great Ways to Reduce Home Water Consumption

Australia may be known as the Lucky Country, but the luck of the draw hasn’t been so good when it comes to natural disasters such as extended periods of drought and crippling wildfires. As a result, estimating your household water consumption year after year can be as frustrating as predicting Melbourne’s weather – a shot in the dark. Some years you’ll need far more than others, some years not so much. Wow, not much to go on, then.

Rain or shine, drought or no drought, reducing water consumption is sensible both for your water bill as well as for the environment. Below are five ways to reduce household water consumption:

Military Showers

Although the ADF and other armed forces around the world may have different reasons for short shower times, it makes perfect sense when it comes to water consumption at home. A five minute shower should be enough to get business done sufficiently, which means sacrificing minutes spent enjoying the refreshment.

If you’re willing to make that sacrifice, it’ll become apparent in your water bills since each minute under the shower uses about 9 L of perfectly good water.

Fix That Drip

Leaky faucets are a constant annoyance that go beyond the dripping that may keep you up at night – they’re also an extremely wasteful use of potable water. One of the most common reasons to contact a plumber is for leaky faucets, not only because it eliminates the annoying dripping but also saves up to 2,000 L per month in wasted water.

Old or Faulty Washing Machines

Washing machines are amongst the most demanding appliances in terms of water consumption in the average household. Older models or those with damage simply won’t operate as efficiently as newer, energy-efficient models. How much? Well, older washing machines often use between 150-170 L of water for every load. New models that are more energy-efficient tend to use between 53-95 L of water per load.

There are two ways to minimise water consumption from washing machines as a result: switch to a new model or repair your older washing machine, and; maximise your washing loads without overfilling so that you run less cycles every month.

Use Your Washing Machine Efficiently

Following on the previous point, if only because washing machines are nothing short of water hogs even on a good day, ensure that your washing machine settings are appropriate for each load.

This includes soil settings, whereby more water is consumed at higher soil levels. Most of us probably don’t spend too much time looking through the instruction manual and instead just pick the washing setting that looks most appropriate for each load, but it may be worth a moment to have a look at your particular model and how much water it consumes at different settings.

Don’t Let the Tap Run Needlessly

This one may seem straightforward, but it’s often neglected for convenience. When brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing your hands, run a little water first if needed but then turn off the tap until it’s needed again. It isn’t much in terms of water savings, but since we perform these activities so frequently throughout the day, over the course of a month it can add up to an awful lot.

Domestic Appliance Repair

If your domestic appliances aren’t working like they used to or if you suspect they’re using far too much water, don’t hesitate to contact the friendly experts at Domestic Appliance Repair today.

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